Stephanie (Bennetts) Kemp

After college and a brief marriage, I remained single for ten years. During that time, I worked for JL Hudsons/Dayton Hudsons, and for most of that ten years, I was the designer collection dress buyer. This allowed me to travel to all the great places of Europe (Italy, France, England) and also traveled every month to New York City and several time to California. My life was exciting and glamorous. However, you soon learn that you must be young to keep the pace up.

Lucky for me, in 1977 I met a marvelous man, Robert Kemp, Jr. Like me, he had been previously married, and we married in 1979. We had a blended family of four children, one boy and three girls. Presently we have ten beautiful grandchildren, seven girls and three boys ranging in age from 4 to 19.

The great tragedy of my life happened in 2008 when Bob was diagnosed with cancer and died within a month of diagnosis. The life he provided for me continues. Our 30 years together were wonderful and meaningful and the best part of my life. I have a home in Palm Beach and a home in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. We traveled to Europe every fall, and my husband’s private wealth company had an office in Florida as well as in Detroit which allowed us to spend the winter in Florida. My life has been full, and I have no regrets.

My beautiful family continues to see me all the time, and it is exciting to have a grandchild who is a freshman in college and also one in preschool. The children are on the east coast, the west coast and in the middle of the country, so I spend much of my time traveling. My mother is still alive. She is 91 and still resides in Lansing, so I frequently get back to my old town.

One of my old best friends, Nancy Blogget, wrote me a note, and we started to email. We finally talked on the phone, and it was like 50 years had not passed. She was the one who made me think of corresponding and talking about the past. I look forward to hearing about the last fifty years for my classmates and was sad to hear that we have lost several friends.